You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

WD MyBook will not mount on Mac

I have two WD MyBooks attached to a Mid-2015 15" MacBook Pro (MBP) running El Capitan 10.11.5. Both drives are formatted with OS X Extended (Journaled). We had a power outage last evening. This morning I rebooted the MBP and the 2nd MyBook would not mount. I rebooted and fussed around to no avail. The drive powers up and seems to be spinning but does not show in Disk Utility or the terminal Disk Utility command. I dl'd HFSExplorer and installed it on a Windows 7 laptop. This utility allows a Windows pc to read, but not write to, a Mac formatted disk. I attached the MyBook2 to the Windows 7 laptop, launched HFSExplorer and, lo and behold, it can read the mac formatted disk. So, what can I do to get the MacBook Pro to mount this drive? I am at a loss!

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.5)

Posted on Jun 19, 2016 8:05 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jul 4, 2017 9:23 PM

I just had the same problem.

You must have added a security password to the WD MyBook. If you did, then next time you plug the WD MyBook to the Mac, the WP Unlocker will not start automatically - it is a glitch i have seen only with the MyBook. Since the unlocker will not show up, the hard drive will remain unseen by the mac. I have a WD My Passport and this problem does not exist. The WD Unlocker starts just after I plug the My Passport. The solution which i did to mount the MyBook is to manually start the WD Unlocker (I kept a copy on the Desktop), then use it to unlock the MyBook, at that point the MyBook will mount.

2 replies
Sort By: 
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jul 4, 2017 9:23 PM in response to jonathanfrommorristown

I just had the same problem.

You must have added a security password to the WD MyBook. If you did, then next time you plug the WD MyBook to the Mac, the WP Unlocker will not start automatically - it is a glitch i have seen only with the MyBook. Since the unlocker will not show up, the hard drive will remain unseen by the mac. I have a WD My Passport and this problem does not exist. The WD Unlocker starts just after I plug the My Passport. The solution which i did to mount the MyBook is to manually start the WD Unlocker (I kept a copy on the Desktop), then use it to unlock the MyBook, at that point the MyBook will mount.

Reply

Jun 19, 2016 10:55 AM in response to jonathanfrommorristown

Fixed it! Nothing very elegant. I shut down the MacBook Pro (MBP), swapped the USB 3 cable from the recognized MyBook (MB1) with the unrecognized MyBook (MB2), rebooted the MBP and the MB2 is recognized. I swapped the cables again to their original drives and all work. Why? I have no idea!

Reply

WD MyBook will not mount on Mac

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.